The valleys which debouch upon the river are quite spacious and contain small plots of cultivated ground, with here and there a village. Unfortunately, while the banks of the river are fertile the valleys themselves are exceedingly unhealthy--a low fever, pathologically identical in the two districts of Murghab and Kushk, permeating them. Although the great majority of the inhabitants avow themselves immune from the disease, they are averse to settling in the valleys. A feature of the river is the abruptness with which the broad open spaces are changed to narrow gorges of no remarkable height. This trait in the character of an otherwise respectable inland river compresses so great a volume of water into so small a channel that its passage is attended with risk. It is not until the spreading expanses of the Pendjeh, Yulatan and Merv oases have exhausted it that the stream is crossed with convenience. At Bala Murghab, where the current is very strong and the depth uncertain, deep holes in the bottom and masses of protruding rocks, added to the hidden dangers from quicksands, make the task of fording an intricate proceeding. There are two fords at this point, and a similar number are in use at Maruchak, Karawal Khana and Pendjeh, while the Russians have restored many stone bridges which formerly existed in the Kushk valley near the junction of the Murghab and Kushk rivers, at Maruchak and Bala Murghab. The liability of the two rivers to sudden floods renders all fords uncertain and insecure, particularly in the lower stretches between Pendjeh and Merv. More often than not necessity dictates the prudence of stripping to the skin, when the native, a prayer to Allah on his lips and his possessions strapped in a bundle on his head, flounders through the water to arrive damp, disconsolate and very scared on the opposite side. Nevertheless, the best fords are found usually where the stream flows swiftly through a narrow bed. At such a crossing there is a firm bottom and foothold is readily secured. Many contrivances are used to cross the rivers of High Asia. Where the current is sluggish an inflated goatskin is employed. This system is in vogue on the Oxus and, in lesser degree, on the Helmund, where rafts of bushes are preferred. Along the Murghab the indifferent nature of the fords and the swiftness of the current in the narrow channels of the river make the use of a boat, drawn along a hawser, more suited to the needs of the occasion. Fords on the Murghab are not so frequent as on the Oxus.